Audiology
and
Communication
Disorders
Audiology Screening Services
Hearing is so important to the development of young children that an undetected hearing loss can affect a child’s intellectual, emotional and social growth, and performance in school. To make sure hearing loss is detected early, most states now require hearing screening for all newborns.
In Pennsylvania, hearing screening must be done within the first 30 days of a baby’s life. In all cases, the tests used to screen a baby’s hearing are safe, quick, and completely painless. In fact, the tests are often done while the baby is sleeping.
Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC was one of the first to perform newborn hearing screening when it began testing infants in the intensive care unit in 1980. Today, the Audiology Center screens more than 10,000 babies a year at Children’s and other western Pennsylvania hospitals.
Why Screen So Young?
Benefits of Early Detection
Hearing Screening Methods
When Additional Resources Are Needed
Why Screen So Young?
Most babies are born without hearing problems. However, about 12,000 babies are born in the United States each year with some degree of hearing loss. Most hearing loss is present at birth.
No matter how observant the parent or pediatrician, detecting hearing loss in children so young is difficult without sophisticated tests. Hearing loss may not be apparent until children show signs of developmental delay, often in their speech or language. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that when hearing screening is not performed during the first month of life, children’s hearing loss is not diagnosed until ages 2 to 3, on average.
It was that kind of compelling evidence that led the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Development Conference on Early Identification of Hearing Loss to conclude in 1993 that all infants should be screened for hearing impairment. Today, more than 2,500 newborn hearing screening programs operate in the United States. Only a handful of states are without laws requiring the testing of all newborns.
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Benefits of Early Detection
Hearing loss deprives the brain’s hearing center of stimulation, which can affect the maturation
and development of hearing. It also can impair young children’s development. Left undetected, hearing loss exposes children to risks, such as delays in speech and language development and is a threat to academic achievement later in life.
When hearing loss is detected early, proper intervention can help to reduce or even eliminate such risks.
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Hearing Screening Methods
Screening a newborn’s hearing is done using one or both of two painless and safe tests.
- Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions (EOAE)
This test uses a flexible probe gently placed into a baby’s ear to determine how well inner
ear-sensory cells respond to sound. The probe contains an earphone that makes clicking sounds and
a microphone that records the ear’s responses, which audiologists analyze to determine whether
a baby has hearing loss.
- Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR)
In this test, three small electrodes that look like Band-AidsŪ are attached to a baby’s scalp.
The electrodes measure brain activity when clicking sounds are transmitted through tiny earphones
placed in a newborn’s ears. These responses are analyzed by a computer and help audiologists
detect hearing loss.
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When Additional Resources Are Needed
All infants who do not pass the hearing screening should be referred for further evaluation to rule
out or confirm hearing loss. The Audiology Center at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh offers
comprehensive hearing testing for infants and young children.
Although most hearing loss is present at birth, some babies develop hearing loss after they are born.
Hearing loss is more likely in premature babies and babies with infections or respiratory problems
requiring long-term use of a breathing machine and certain medications.
If a hearing loss is identified, medical, diagnostic, rehabilitation, education and support services
are available through the Audiology Center of the Department of Audiology and Communication Disorders.
These resources include a Hearing Aid Evaluation and Dispensing Program, a Pediatric Cochlear Implant
Program for some severely to profoundly hearing-impaired children and an aural rehabilitation department.
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